'Mass Effect: Andromeda' Is The Worst-Reviewed Game In The Franchise

'Mass Effect Andromeda' is scoring poorly compared to the original trilogy.

EA/BioWare

Perhaps it was inevitable, but after five long years, it's beyond disappointing to see that reviews of Mass Effect: Andromeda are nowhere near as glowing as the critical reception of the previous three games.

One would hope that after half a decade and leaps and bounds made in game fidelity, that Andromeda would at least score on par with the original, last-gen trilogy.

Alas, such is not the case. I've spent about 10 hours with the game, and for all its flaws I'm excited to keep playing. I'll have some first impressions up shortly, but before that let's take a look at what the critics are saying about the new space opera.

We'll start with aggregate scores. Note that these are as of this writing and are subject to change in the coming days as more and more reviews land. But for the time being, here's how Mass Effect: Andromedais doing on Metacritic:

Now as I noted above, the aggregate for Andromeda can still change across all three platforms, but it likely won't change much. So what we're looking at is a mid-to-high 70s range as far as scores go. That's a drop from mid-to-low 90s and upper 80s, and a pretty significant one.

Given how controversial Mass Effect 3 was, it's a little disappointing that BioWare wasn't able to put together a grand new beginning to a glorious new space opera trilogy. Of course, aggregates are just averages, so let's look at a sampling of what the critics are saying, starting with...

I have a feeling that Mass Effect fans will enjoy the game, but I don’t think anyone will claim it outclasses the original trilogy, outside of maybe the very first game. If you could combine the story and memorable quests of the originals with the combat, visuals and scope of Andromeda, you would have the perfect video game, though I think what's offered here will satisfy most. Despite its issues, Andromeda is welcome return to one of my favorite fictional universes, and I am still not ready to let Mass Effect go. I'm not sure I ever will be.

Paul enjoyed the combat but was let down by the story, enemy variety and subpar sidequests. He found the world "so big it’s almost unwieldy" and stuffed with busywork. On the other hand, he found the absence of the Paragon system "freeing" and loved his Ryder more than Commander Shepard.

PC Gamer's Chris Thursten complains about the game's overall lack of polish, but notes that ultimately he's able to look past many of its shortcomings and that "in the end, Andromeda still manages to be more than the sum of its parts [...]

"This is a series that has always been good at getting under your skin," writes Thursten, "that has built its reputation on the moments when all of those disparate elements, good and bad, cohere into an adventure that feels like it's happening to you. Andromeda can still do that. It's not perfect. It's not consistent. But for a story about vast journeys and fresh starts, it also feels a little like coming home."

When taken as its own journey (and not in comparison to Shepard’s saga), Mass Effect: Andromeda is fun, and the important parts work. The narrative isn’t astounding, but keeps you invested and drives you forward. The combat is entertaining whether you're in single-player or multiplayer. The crew isn't my favorite, but I like them and they have some good moments. Even with its other problems, these are the largest forces shaping your experience with Mass Effect: Andromeda, and they make it worth playing. At the same time, I was often left looking through a haze of inconveniences and dreaming about the game it could have been.

The Unscored

Not every publication awards a score, and some are penning reviews-in-progress for the very large video game.

Where the original Mass Effect games kept you moving through the story, Andromeda relegates its critical path to second place, offering up a spread of loosely associated scenarios that just happens to include a fairly uninspired tussle with a genocidal tyrant. It's a game that is more interested in keeping you busy than keeping you in suspense about what happens next, or making you feel the consequences of your actions.

(I'll note here that "keeping you busy" is a pillar of modern, open-world game design. It is almost always a mistake, as was the case with Horizon Zero Dawn and countless Ubisoft open-worlds. Indeed, it was perhaps the biggest mistake with Dragon Age: Inquisition. And it is a mistake in Mass Effect: Andromeda as well. BioWare, however, is far from alone in making this mistake, and it's interesting to see this game take a pummeling over it while something like Horizon Zero Dawn gets a relatively free pass---except from yours truly, of course.)

The most frustrating thing about Mass Effect: Andromeda is how much of a regression it represents after the successes of Dragon Age: Inquisition. That was a larger and more involved game by almost every measure....Andromeda's story may be about blazing a trail into an entirely new galaxy, but it feels slimmed down by comparison. There are fewer spaces to explore in general — less than 10 in all — and three of them are different shades of "desert planet." The locations themselves are gorgeous, but they are too few in number.

(I will note here that "more" locations is absolutely not the problem. The problem is trading narrative heft for open spaces which are too often repetitive to the point where even the alien monsters are just rehashes from one planet to the next. Simply adding more here would not help.)

For many players, these myriad issues may understandably be a deal-breaker. Mass Effect: Andromeda is largely not a fun game to play. The missions are boring, the action repetitive. But for a certain kind of person — and I count myself among them, for better and for worse — the story is just enough to merit the investment. Completing a boring mission might bring you closer to a character you’re really attached to, or, on a grander scale, you might see the world evolve in fascinating ways. I loved watching the various colonies grow from tiny settlements into thriving communities over the course of the game — even if nudging this progress felt like checking off my chores.

The Bad

Moving to the low-end of the review scale, the end that's tipping the balance away from low 90s to mid 80s, we find some more scathing critiques.

"The game can't escape its shortcomings, but patient explorers can still find a few stars shining in the darkness," writes GameSpot's Scott Butterworth, handing out a 6/10. "In many ways, Andromeda feels like a vision half-fulfilled. It contains a dizzying amount of content, but the quality fluctuates wildly. Its worlds and combat shine, but its writing and missions falter--and the relative strength of the former is not enough to compensate for the inescapable weakness of the latter."

Over at GamesBeat, Jeff Grub compares Andromeda to other recent video games, and not favorably:

Mass Effect: Andromeda might've worked a decade ago on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but it doesn't work in a world that is delivering games like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nier: Automata, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In this reality, BioWare's latest role-playing game is old, broken, and often boring. Worst of all, it's going to disappoint fans of the Mass Effect series.

Ultimately, you'll have to decide for yourself. Reviews are just guideposts, after all. A game in the mid-to-high 70s range is often serviceable enough, and the consensus I'm seeing is that Mass Effect: Andromeda is still a fun game regardless of its flaws.

Meanwhile, some of its technical issues such as weird facial animations and a very limited character creator (not to mention a bunch of glitches) can all be ironed out with patches.

Perhaps Andromeda is a game you should buy on sale a little ways down the road, but I don't get the impression that it's a game Mass Effect fans will want to miss. While I'm far from completing the game myself, that's my takeaway so far. It may not have the gravitas of previous entries, but there's something charming about it nonetheless, warts and all. (Early previews made the game sound like a hot mess, and it is, but it's still reeled me in and I'm excited to keep playing.)

Look for lots more coverage of Mass Effect: Andromeda here at Forbes Games.